Bhela Utsab / Beyra Festival in Murshidabad

Bhela Utsab / Beyra Festival in Murshidabad . Every year on the last Thursday of the month of Bhadra, in the Bengali calendar, this Bhela or Beyra festival is celebrated. This involved making four huge boats in the shape of a snake's or crocodile's mouth , made of bamboo and attractivelu covered with gorgeous black paper. These boats were placed in a raft made with bamboo and banana plants. The sides and every nook and corner of the raft was decorated with lighted candles which shone brilliantly in the dark. The Bhela Utsab was first propagated by the founder of Murshidabad ,Murshidabad Quili Khan. Historians say that it was Murshidabad Quili Khan who used to send a huge amount of gold and silver coins as revenue to the Mughal Sultanate. This huge revenue enabled Emperor Aurangzeb to forge all his wars specially with the Deccan Kingdoms. All his life Emperor Aurangzeb failed in vain to bring the Deccan Kingdoms under the Mughal rule. Some historians are of the opinion that this Bhela Utsab is symbolical of that maritime journey from Murshidabad to Delhi. Incidentally this particular day in this year also celebrates Chapor or Chapra Shoshti. The ritual involves making replica of boats from the white inner stem of the banana trunk. These symbolic boats are first decorated and then floated in any waterbody , praying for the wellbeing of one's children. In olden days affluence came with trade and most trade also happened by water ways .Hence boats play a very important role in the lives of people.It also stands for wealth and well being of the people. Some historians are of the opinion that there was a pir baba who was reverted as the God of the rivers. Since there were occasional floods in Murshidabad , these boats were dedicated to Khwaja khijir . Today the boats were stationed in the New Palace in the Hazzar Duari complex. Here Chite Nawab a descendant of the Mirza family ,MLA Gauri Shankar Ghosh and other officers inaugurated the fedtival by tying Shehras on to the mouths of the peacock boats. This festival was taking place after a gap of six years. No Islamic festival is celebrated within 40 days of Muharram , which is a period of mourning for the Muslims. Hence there were hoards of people, nearly 2 lacs had gathered to watch this beautiful display of fire works.